Donations from oil and gas companies
Dear Heriot-Watt University,
This is a request for information under the Freedom of Information Act. I would like to be provided with the following information:
(1) For the financial years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and any available data for 2021/2022, I would like to be provided with details on accepted donations, gifts, grants and research funding that have come from oil and gas companies. For each, I would like the following information:
- The name of the oil/gas company that gave the donation
- The date the university accepted such donation, gift, grant and research funding
- The sum and description of the accepted donation, gift, grant and research funding
- A description of what the donation, gift, grant and research funding was used for
(2) Also, for the financial years 2017/18, 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21 and any available data for 2021/2022, I would like to be provided with details on donations, gifts, grants and research funding that have come from oil and gas companies which have been rejected by the university.
For each rejected donation, gift, grant and research funding, please provide the following information:
- The name of the oil/gas company that tried to give the donation
- The date the university rejected such donation, gift, grant and research funding
- The sum and description of the rejected donation, gift, grant and research funding
- The reasons why the donation, gift, grant and research funding was rejected
I would like to receive the information electronically - preferably in an Excel format. If you feel that a substantive response to this request is not possible within a reasonable time frame, or the request is too broad or too vague, I would be grateful if you could contact me and provide assistance as to how I could refine the request. Many thanks.
Yours faithfully,
Jenna Corderoy
Automated Acknowledgement
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either the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or the Environmental
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following address:
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Doubledykes Road, St Andrews,
Fife KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
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Information Governance Team
Governance and Legal Services
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh Campus
Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
Email: [email address]
Dear applicant
Thank you for your information request dated the 28th June 2021 which we are handling under our country's legislation: the Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
Our University does not record this information by sector. In order to provide you with the accurate and consistent information you need for your research could you please provide us with a list of those companies which you consider to fall within your definition of 'oil and gas'.
Kind regards
FOISA Team
Information Governance Division
Governance and Legal Services
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh Campus
Thank-you for your response. I'm happy to provide a list of companies:
- BP
- Shell
- Chevron
- TechnipFMC
- ConocoPhillips
- Schlumberger
- SSE
- Scottish Power
- Halliburton
- ExxonMobile
- Ineos
- Mercuria
- Siccar Point
- Blackstone
- Blue Water
Yours sincerely,
Jenna Corderoy
Dear Sir or Madam,
Could you confirm that you have received my clarification? Many thanks.
Yours sincerely,
Jenna Corderoy
Automated Acknowledgement
As a Scottish University, we comply with our country’s own legislation -
either the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002 or the Environmental
Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004. We will respond to your request
within the statutory timescales.
If you are contacting the University in respect of your own personal
information or data, please redirect your request
to [email address]
Scottish Information Commissioner Guidelines
Further information about timescales for responding to requests for
information and your rights under Scottish legislation can be found on the
Scottish Information Commissioner's website:
[1]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
or by contacting the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office at the
following address:
Scottish Information Commissioner,
Kinburn Castle,
Doubledykes Road, St Andrews,
Fife KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
Email: [email address]
Website: [2]www.itspublicknowledge.info
Information Governance Team
Governance and Legal Services
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh Campus
Riccarton
Edinburgh EH14 4AS
Email: [email address]
Dear Jenna
Thank you for your email and we can confirm we received your clarification
on 19th July 2021.
Kind regards
FOISA Team
Information Governance Division
Governance and Legal Services
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh Campus
Dear Jenna
Thank you for your information request dated the 28^th June 2021 seeking
information relating to oil and gas donations. We responded on the 1^st
July 2021 seeking clarification as we do not record this information by
sector. You wrote subsequently on the 19^th July 2021 with clarification.
As a Scottish University, we are accountable to the Scottish Information
Commissioner, the Scottish Funding Council and ultimately, the Scottish
Government. Your information request has been handled therefore under the
Environmental Information (Scotland) Regulations 2004.
As you may be aware, the Scottish Funding Council has encouraged Scottish
Universities to maximise the amount of income generated through research
as part of our annual funding settlement. The generation of additional
income has become even more vital and important to our University given
the current economic climate. We feel that breaking down the information
to the level requested would impact significantly on our funding and on
our commercial activities which in turn impacts on the amounts we invest
in our university and the student experience. We also feel that the titles
of the projects would also alert the competitors of the named companies
and we would be breaching our commercial agreements. We are therefore
applying exception: Regulation 10(5)(e) - Confidentiality of commercial or
industrial information.
We are keen however to assist you on your research and we are able provide
you with the amounts we have received in a format which we feel is both
commercially compliant and transparent.
Research funding
We received research funding the funding below from 5 of the companies
(not all the same years) you listed in your email dated the 19^th July
2021.
2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
total £2,214,000 £199,000 £106,000 £1,325,000
(these figures have been rounded)
What our research funding covers
We thought it would be useful to include some contextual information
regarding our research activities:
o We are expanding Geothermal, Energy Storage (Hydrogen) and Carbon
Capture and Storage research and teaching based on skills and
expertise developed through Petroleum Geosciences and Engineering
o We are growing the existing partnerships with industry to fully
support their future in the energy transition from fossil fuel to
renewables.
o We are adapting and expanding the course content for all of its
existing programmes in order to demonstrate the integrated nature of
current and future energy supply – for instance giving students the
option to consider both conventional hydrocarbon production and how
that fits with future energy supply options such as Carbon Capture and
Hydrogen Storage,
o We support and advise industries and business partners on the wider
Energy Transition from carbon to renewables,
Donations
2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21
total £167,000 £116,000 0.00 0.00
The donations above were made by 4 companies listed in your email and were
made in respect of the following activities: prizes for graduates;
scholarships; bursaries for students; books and learning materials;
facility improvements and workshop; and support for female students in
STEM subjects. Further information about our student bursary and
sponsorship programmes can be found on our website.
Gifts
We can confirm that no gifts were received.
Your right to seek review of our decision
If you are not satisfied with our response or our reasoning set-out above,
you have forty working days from today in which to request a review of our
decision. Any request should be put in writing and should be sent to Ann
Jones, Head of Information Governance, at the address detailed at the
bottom of this email. The request should:
(a) detail your request for a review of our decision to be undertaken;
(b) describe the nature of your original request; and
(c) explain the reasons why you are dissatisfied with our response.
If you remain dissatisfied with how your request for information has been
dealt with, you also have the right to apply to the Scottish Information
Commissioner for a decision as to whether we have handled your request
properly.
Information relating to your right to seek review is available from the
Scottish Information Commissioner's web page
at:[1]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/YourR...
or by contacting the Scottish Information Commissioner's Office at the
following address:
Scottish Information Commissioner,
Kinburn Castle,
Doubledykes Road, St Andrews,
Fife KY16 9DS
Telephone: 01334 464610
Fax: 01334 464611
E-mail: [2][email address]
Website: [3]http://www.itspublicknowledge.info/home/...
Contact us
Finally, should you wish to discuss the contents of this email, please do
not hesitate to contact us via [4][Heriot-Watt University request email]
Kind regards
FOISA Team
Information Governance Division
Governance and Legal Services
Heriot-Watt University
Edinburgh Campus
[5]content
Many thanks for your response. I would like to make the same request, but for the companies Total, Equinor and Eni. Please confirm receipt.
Yours sincerely,
Jenna Corderoy
Apologies, I would like to withdraw this request and submit a new one.
Yours sincerely,
Jenna Corderoy
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The latest response included tabular data that could not be parsed by WhatDoTheyKnow, so we have extracted it to a PDF and republished at https://files.whatdotheyknow.com/request...